As Diplomacy Stutters, US, Israel Mull Military Drills For Iran Scenario

The lawmaker involved has criticized parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf for retracting his support under public pressure.

Ali-Asghar Annabestani told Rouydad24 news website Wednesday Ghalibaf (Qalibaf) had acted from his “longing for presidency. "In January 2021, Annabestani was in a melee with a conscripted soldier, Abed Akbari, who was serving as a traffic cop in Tehran and stopped Annabestani’s car in a bus lane in a busy street.

The soldier took the matter to social media immediately, garnering backing from Twitterati and others, and later sued the lawmaker for slapping him. Although there was no conclusive footage, several witnesses backed Akbari’s account.

What was notable in the incident was the public's attitude of immediately believing the cop rather than the lawmaker. Many politicians seeing an opportunity to be on the popular side of an issue, demanded accountability from the lawmaker.

Annabestani first denied any altercation, and then admitted to "shoving" the warden after Akbari had insulted him. The parliament member made a public apology, but has denied there was any more to the incident.

Police spokesperson Mehdi Hajian said a few days after the fracas that the chief of law enforcement, Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, had ordered the police’s legal department to defend the warden's rights, but Akbari later dropped his lawsuit, feeding speculation but not explaining why.

Ghalibaf revived the controversy Tuesday when asked about the case during a question-and-answer session with university students, when he backed Annabestani’s version of events.

The speaker noted it was better not to repeat “whatever we see” on social media. “Annabestani would have committed a crime if he had slapped the warden and should then have been punished," Ghalibaf noted. "He didn't slap the warden but shoved him."

The speaker's support first drew Annabestani’s praise and gratitude. But within hours Akbari took to an Instagram live session to suggest a court had accepted his claim that he had been slapped. He accused both the judiciary and parliament of protecting Annabestani.

After hearing this, Ghalibaf noted Annabestani had found guilty of "assault without causing bodily harm" and apologized in line with his “promise of honesty” to Iranians.

Ghalibaf’s shift was “hilarious,” Annabestani responded. “He has told me several times that he watched the traffic-camera footage of the incident released by the police and it did not look like slapping and showed shoving. Now, under media pressure, he is accusing me of lying."

Putin was speaking to reporters on Wednesday after talks in Sochi with visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Putin said that he discussed Iran with Mitsotakis and “I hope Iran’s president will accept my invitation” and visit Russia early next year.

President Joe Biden discussed Iran nuclear negotiations with Putin on Tuesday when they held a two-hour teleconference on tensions surrounding Russian troop concentrations on the border with Ukraine.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan later told a briefing that the two presidents has “good discussion on Iran”, and announced that both oppose a nuclear Iran.

Talks in Vienna are set to resume on Thursday, but there is little certainty about a breakthrough. Russia, a diplomatic ally of Iran, is a participant in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, JCPOA, and takes part in the Vienna negotiations.

The talks seek to find a way for the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the agreement.

Then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions, prompting Iran to start violating the nuclear restrictions about a year later. Iran struck the original deal with six major powers: Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

Enrique Mora, the senior European Union official chairing the talks, said on Twitter that they would resume on Thursday.

The talks have effectively been indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States, with diplomats from other nations shuttling between them because Tehran has refused face-to-face meetings with US officials.

Noting the EU statement that talks resume on Thursday, the State Department spokesman told reporters: "We understand that there will be a day of meetings before the heads of delegations need to attend...so Special Envoy Malley and his inter-agency delegation will plan to join the talks over the weekend."

Report by Reuters

Mostafa Alaei, a former senior Iranian diplomat, says reviving the 2015 nuclear deal will not solve all of Iran's problems with the West, while the failure of the previous round of talks between Iran and world powers has left a dramatic impact on Iran's ailing economy.

Alaei who was speaking to Etemad newspaper in Tehran on Wednesday said that "Iran's case is no longer a simple political or economic issue, it is a case impacting international security."

Iran should show flexibility

The former diplomat suggested that if the West offers concessions in the next round of talks in Vienna, Iran should show flexibility. "International negotiations are about give and take," he pointed out.

Alaei, who served in various positions at the Iranian Foreign Ministry and was a member of the Iranian delegation to the United Nations and Iran's ambassador to Venezuela, believes that "although the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] was an agreement made under pressure, it is still a brilliant document in Iran's political history."

He said Iran should have not allowed Iran-o-phobia to spread all over the world. Suggesting that what Iran needs at this point is a change to its approach in foreign policy, Alaei said, "It is wrong to think that we should always live under pressure. Sometimes we need to sacrifice the government's prestige to save national interests."

He further stressed: "We should come to know the true threats in our foreign policy, not the imaginary threats that are the products of illusion."

Next round of talks “fragile”

Meanwhile, another seasoned diplomat Fereidoun Majlesi said in an interview with Iran Diplomacy website, close to the Foreign Ministry, that the next round of talks starting in Vienna on Thursday is the most fragile round of the nuclear negotiations. However, Majlesi added that it is unlikely the talks would come to a halt.

"One cannot say with certainty that the next round of talks is going to fail like the previous round, but it is undoubtedly going to be the most fragile round of the nuclear talks because the Raisi administration is insisting on its suggested package which has already been ruled out by both Europeans and Americans," he reiterated.

We cannot deny the impact of sanctions

President Raisi and his administration deny the impact of a deadlock on the economy and their reaction to the falling value of the Iranian currency has been an unjustifiable punishment for businesses and the people. Majlesi said, "the government is denying the realities although it is well aware of the situation in the country. The outcome of this denial is that we should wait for another shock to the markets as a result of a possible failure of the next round of talks."

Majlesi stressed that "Like many other countries, Iran's economy is dependent on the US dollar. This has nothing to do with who is in power in Iran. The economy has been dependent on the rate of exchange for US dollar since the 1979 revolution and even before that. So, you cannot deny the impact of sanctions. Rising prices are not manipulated by domestic and foreign enemies as Iranian politicians say. You cannot justify it with the illusion of a conspiracy. This is a reality that leaves its impact on the people's livelihood."

Majlesi further warned that denying the problem will not serve Raisi's interests as the gap between his administration and the people will further widen because of this denial.

Counting on Russia

Speaking about upcoming talks, Majlesi said: "Iranian negotiators' new suggestions that undermined the outcomes of negotiations [Nov. 29-Dec. 3] have practically put an end to dialogue. The next round of the talks is going to start in a non-constructive and negative atmosphere.

Majlesi warned that "Iran is not powerful enough to change the rhetoric and agenda of the negotiations. He pointed out that Iran is counting on Russia's role as a mediator. But the strong coherence among Western negotiators will force Russia and China to follow the westerners' lead. This raises the likelihood of the collapse of the next round of talks.

"On the other hand, like all other countries, Russia's main concern is to serve its own interests and Iran's reliance on Moscow will increase Russia's influence and power in Vienna so that it might want to take advantage of the Iran card in front of US and European sides particularly given the developments in Ukraine.

“Our contacts with the US and Iran at #ViennaTalks prove that both sides are very serious about restoration of $JCPOA but their visions of relevant ways and means differ,” Mikhail Ulyanov wrote.

The European Union’s coordinator of the talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), Enrique Mora, announced Wednesday that negotiations will resume in Vienna on Thursday.

Last week, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany held talks Iran’s representatives for five days that ended on Friday with any results, generating pessimism.

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran during their videoconference on Tuesday.

Iran has hardened its position since the election of hardline president Ebrahim Raisi. Western diplomats say that Tehran has reneged on compromises reached in earlier rounds of talks from April to June.

Iran is demanding that all post-2018 sanctions to be lifted at once before it agrees to return to JCPOA. Tehran is enriching uranium to as high as 60 percent, violating the agreement.